“Aging in place” sounds wonderfully simple. Stay in the house you know, in the neighborhood you know, surrounded by the things and people that make life familiar. It is also what most people say they want. AARP’s latest Home and Community Preferences Survey found that 75% of adults age 50 and older want to remain in their current homes as they age, although 44% expect they will eventually have to move.
That gap raises a question that doesn’t get nearly as much attention as grab bars, stair-free entrances and first-floor bedrooms: What does it actually take to keep a life in place?
The National Institute on Aging points out that remaining at home may eventually require help with transportation, household chores, meals, personal care, health care and safety. Staying connected matters too. The CDC identifies limited transportation as one factor that can contribute to social isolation among older adults. A house can remain perfectly familiar while someone’s world outside it gradually becomes smaller.
That complicates what we mean by independence. Someone may live in her own home while family handles the lawn, a housekeeper cleans and a transportation service provides rides. She may still have considerable independence because she retains meaningful control over how and where she lives. The question is whether the support around that independence is sustainable. Some needs may be handled by family or friends, others by paid services or community resources. As those needs change, the arrangement may need to change with them.
Real estate tends to approach aging in place through the physical house. Are there stairs? Is there a bedroom and full bathroom on the main floor? Is there a safe way to enter and move through the house? Those questions matter, but a house that works physically can still become difficult if it is far from health care, shopping, friends and activities and driving is no longer an option. Conversely, a house with some physical challenges may remain workable because services and support are nearby.
The suitability of a house for aging isn’t entirely contained within its property lines. That gives “location, location, location” a different meaning. A walkable neighborhood that was enjoyable at 55 may become important at 85 because daily life doesn’t depend entirely on a car. Proximity to health care, groceries, family, friends and community resources can matter more as mobility changes.
Families can also fall into thinking there are only two choices: stay or move. In reality, services can be brought into the home, paid assistance can supplement family help, an older parent can move in with an adult child, or an adult child can move into the parent’s home. The right arrangement may also change over time. The National Institute on Aging recommends revisiting aging-in-place decisions as needs change and checking in regularly on caregiving arrangements rather than assuming that what works today will continue to work indefinitely.
Before deciding whether a house is suitable for aging in place, perhaps the first inspection shouldn’t be of the property. It should be of how the home, its location and daily life work together.
I created an Aging in Place: Home Reality Check to help with that conversation. Rather than looking only at accessibility features, it walks through the home’s layout and condition, transportation, maintenance, cost, available help, community connections and the point at which modifying a home may no longer make as much sense as considering another housing option. It also asks you to look at the home under three different circumstances: an ordinary day, a period of limited mobility and a longer-term need for help.
The checklist is designed to turn the items that “need work” into an action plan, whether that means a relatively simple fix, a contractor project or a larger decision about the home.
For additional guidance, the National Institute on Aging provides caregiver resources covering home safety, caregiving responsibilities and changing living arrangements.
There are local resources too. Aging Ahead serves St. Louis, St. Charles, Jefferson and Franklin counties and can connect older adults and caregivers with transportation, in-home services, caregiver support, Meals on Wheels and other programs.
If the person you’re helping lives elsewhere in Missouri, the state’s ten Area Agencies on Aging provide similar connections to local resources. The Missouri Senior Resource Line at 1-800-235-5503 can direct callers to the appropriate agency based on ZIP code. Services and eligibility vary by area.
Aging in place has never really been only about the place. The harder question is whether the house, its location and the support available around it can continue to provide the life the person wants to live.
Sometimes that means changing the house. Sometimes it means bringing in help. Sometimes it means moving.
And sometimes the person who moves isn’t the older homeowner.
Karen Moeller
STLKaren.com
Karen.McNeill@STLRE.com
314.678.7866
About the Author:
Karen Moeller is a St. Louis area REALTOR® with MORE, REALTORS® and a regular contributor to St. Louis Real Estate News, helping clients make informed, data-driven decisions.
